“I will risk my own life and co-pilot the shuttle. That way it will give me a firsthand look at how to operate the craft. Please get one pilot ready. Stay here with the people who monitor the shuttle and make sure other systems are working correctly. We are flying to Wyoming near Jackson Hole. I would have asked Harrison Ford to rescue her, but I do not think he is available.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she said. “I know how important Dr. Sato is to this mission.”
She ordered the pilot, Marvin Watson, to get the shuttle ready. Tom called Dr. Sato back and let her know he was personally going to rescue her, as it would also be an excellent opportunity to see the shuttle in action.
“You are crazy,” she said. “What about your wife and kids?”
“They will all be fine. See you very soon.”
Twenty minutes later, Captain Watson gave Tom instructions to co-pilot and control the shuttle.
“I will take care of the lift-off and landing,” Marvin said. “Once we land, we will both go and get Dr. Sato back to the shuttle. I have a stretcher on board for that. So, put your seat belt on and let’s see how this baby flies, shall we?”
“Dorothy, can you hear me?”
“Yes, loud and clear.”
“Dorothy, I just want you to know that if this fails and we don’t make it, it is not your fault. I gave the order to do this. Please put that on the record. Bob Jackson will then be in charge.”
“You are not going to die on me and neither is Dr. Sato. That is probably what you told her, right? Good luck.”
Readied for takeoff, the shuttle was in a field near the main craft. Dorothy gave the countdown, then she said, “Good to go.”
Marvin took the throttle as the plasma gas began to lift the shuttle off the ground. For this trip, the shuttle had to fly higher than the previous test. Marvin and Tom would operate at a speed of a thousand miles an hour, getting them to the crash site in about one hour. This time the shuttle worked beautifully. The flight was very smooth and fast. Both Marvin and Tom marveled at how easy it was to operate the shuttle.
Approximately one hour later, they were near the crash site. A little smoke was coming up from the plane crash but did not appear to endanger anyone. Marvin and Tom looked to land at a place close enough to carry someone on a stretcher. They saw an open spot nearby with a forty-by-a-hundred-square-foot functional landing area. The landing was like landing a helicopter.
Once they touched down, they left the engine running, since they did not want to test another plasma takeoff right now. Marvin and Tom saw Dr. Sato near the plane and ran to her. She was weak, but her mind was sharp.
“About time you got here,” she said. “Thanks for coming. How about a drink?”
Tom said, “Sure, as soon as we get back to Imagine. First, we need to get you out of here.”
After putting a leg splint on her, they lifted her carefully onto the stretcher and carried her to the shuttle. Once on board, Marvin took off.
Tom got up and went back to talk to Dr. Sato. “Your leg does look broken but will mend. I do have some exciting news for you. You are the third live person that has flown on the shuttle. This thing is really cool.”
“You mean you are testing this thing to see if it really works, possibly getting us all killed?”
“Yes, it is part of the job,” he said. “Relax, the shuttle is fine. You need to recover from your injury to resume your duties. Did you get the material you needed?”
“No.”
“Perhaps Marvin can make another trip later this week or next and get them for us.”
Marvin heard the conversation. “Yes, Dr. Sato, I will be glad to return and pick up whatever you need.”
“Thank you,” Dr. Sato said. “However, there is something I must discuss with you, Tom. I was supposed to meet with an expert in Wyoming to discuss joining our team. I may have mentioned Dr. Earl Kintain previously. He is very advanced in his understanding of DNA research and well, before Marvin goes next week, I would like to expedite things and get in touch with him immediately and discuss joining us on the phone rather than what I intended in person. He will understand once I explain the accident. Surely, he will say yes, and I would need him and his research technologies to be brought to the ship earlier than next week. Some of our work back on Imagine depends on it, and a time lag now could cost us dearly.”
“Of course, Helen. I trust your judgment, and as I mentioned earlier, I trust that you would put together the best team for the voyage.”
“Thank you, Tom.”
She jotted down some notes and then went to sleep. Marvin did a great job landing the shuttle so softly that Dr. Sato did not even wake up. Her medical colleagues came out and took her out on the stretcher. They gave her some pain medicine and let her sleep. When they got back to the ship, they operated on her leg. Everyone was on edge. Dr. Sato was one of the most critical people on Imagine. Without her, some of the significant decisions would be impossible to make regarding expanding life expectancy.
The scientific controversies onboard Imagine weren’t by any means resolved, and Tom wondered whether they would be before the launch, but it was important that Dr. Sato heal as soon as possible and return immediately. Her support staff had conducted some crucial experiments and needed to continue their research so that more outcomes could be observed and tested. They were waiting for what she was bringing with her with much impatience. Tom’s communication receiver had received their calls repeatedly asking about her and the safety of her cargo.
They were waiting on Dr. Sato to continue their discussion on what had been found eight years ago after the Chinese scientist, Jiankui He, had gene-edited twin babies in order to modify the CCR5 gene in the embryos that controls how the HIV virus enters human cells, and the mutation had allowed for them to be born free of the virus. However, follow-up researchers found that the mutation itself had led the team to discover that people who had two copies of the mutated gene had a higher risk of dying earlier, which one of the two twins had. Since then, the scientific community had ostracized Jiankui He. But the development of the tool SATI (intercellular linearized Single homology Arm donor mediated intron-Targeting Integration) had allowed Dr. Sato and her team to apply the findings from models used on mice to correct the genes responsible for progeria—premature aging—and controversially extend that to the aging process itself. Tom had been fine with it.
They were also heartened by biotech company improvements in the last few years in treating different genetic defects with adults in body rather than embryo-stage in fighting cancers, eye-related diseases, and spinal dystrophy. The latter would be important to study, in particular, as astronauts had found that living in space took a toll on their backs, causing their muscles to weaken within the spine over time. And one of the most pushing-boundaries studies they were trying to handle was singling out a gene that might push the boundaries of mortality. To do that they would use germline editing to edit embryos to create babies that would carry the edits, like the Chinese scientist had done—crossing the CRISPR red-line and pushing beyond scientific consensus.
Could a later generation live twice as long, avoiding any risk of the diseases that the previous generation could not protect itself from genetically? The technology, and, more immediately, the recent acquiescence of many scientists driven by the pressures of the times to accept the forward momentum of the technology, had led many prominent scientists to support Dr. Sato’s efforts—if they were to be used to save humanity. If Imagine landed, needed to extend lives, and built a new colony that needed to maintain growth, they supported the use of technologies that would not be beholden to the restrictive laws back on Earth. Considering that editing germline cells have the possibility of immortality—since they can affect several generations unlike somatic cells—this procedure may have much larger consequences on populations. On account of an outcry to make sure that scientific safeties were established, the medical risks needed to be understood.